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Perfect Timing

"By the age of 25, I'll be married, I'll own my dream home, I'll be rich, travel the world, and then, I’ll have my first baby by 30!"

Most of us don't realize it, however, everyone of us, have these “milestones” engraved in our minds. (Okay, maybe that example was a teenie bit, far fetched, but you get the point.)

Goals are great. I'm alllll about having a vision for your future.... In fact, I have my own kids as well as my youth group make new vision boards every year. I want them to push themselves, and believe for their dreams or goals.

BUT I want to talk about what happens when they don't come to pass when YOU wanted them to, in your timing?

I read this the other day and it really touched my heart, I wanted to share it with you:

At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA.

At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job.

At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer.

At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.

At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.

At age 28, Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook.

At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.

At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.

At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs.

Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51.

Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40.

Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40.

Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42.

Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.

Morgan Freeman landed his first MAJOR movie role at age 52.

Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57.

Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76.

Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78.

Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of ___(insert your age). It’s okay if you don’t know what your dream is just yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow.

Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.Never tell yourself you missed your chance.Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough. You can do it. Whatever it is.

It's all about God's timing for you. And a His timing is the PERFECT timing...

That is what I tell my youth group everyday. And sometimes I have to remind myself.

I had stopped wearing make up, dressing up, I had even stopped wearing high heels..I was settled into my role as a mom, and youth pastor, living in Wyoming...I never considered entering a pageant at my age, with my busy life.

Regardless, God led me to become Mrs International, although it was never a part of my "plan".

My husband had a dream of my crowning moment, 5 years before I entered the pageant! And I had several dreams about it as well. So after praying about it, we all decided to pursue it. And here we are!

See in my mind, I thought I would have been a missionary in Africa or Honduras by now, but I'm not...And that's okay! God had a better plan for my life. And now I can minister to people ALL over the globe, it’s limitless.

It was never in my "plans" to become a TV co-host. Never occurred to me, never in my wildest dreams!

But that's the point. If you're a "Vera Wang" like me, where you wanted to become a "figure skater" but instead became a "famous fashion designer." Know that our plans are not His plans. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Or maybe you're a "Morgan Freeman" who planned to become a fighter pilot but instead became a critically acclaimed actor. Or maybe you're a “Samuel L. Jackson” who's dream was to become an actor, and pursued it till it became a reality.